The feeding of livestock presents several challenges to the farmer or rancher undertaking the task. Feeding is a costly and time-consuming operation. The economics of, for example, the beef cattle or dairy industry could be greatly improved if the manpower required in performing the feeding task and/or the amount of waste normally associated with feeding could be minimized.
One of the main reasons for the necessity of feeding pre-cut dried fodder or hay to the livestock relates to climactic conditions. While the requirements for feeding pre-cut feed are dependent upon climate, almost all locations in the U.S. require that cattle and other livestock be fed at least part of the year. In northern states, such as Wyoming and Montana, feeding may be required as much as nine months of the year.
One of the simplest feeding methods illustrates some of the inherent difficulties of any livestock feeding process. For example, in the feeding of cattle, merely placing a large hay bale in a pen containing a group of cattle leads to significant amounts of waste which can be as much as one-half of the bale or more. This is because the animals tend to break up the bale in order to pick the best parts from the bale. In so doing the other parts of the bale become trampled into the ground and soiled and are not eaten by the cattle.
Attempts to minimize the manpower required and reduce waste and feed losses in performing the feeding task have employed large, stationary feeding "pavilions". Many such devices have been introduced, such as large feeding troughs, conveyor devices, and the like. However, in general, these devices have had inherent drawbacks. First, many are mechanically complicated, making the use of such devices for the small rancher almost prohibitive in terms of initial purchase as well as maintenance and upkeep. Second, they require that a large number of cattle be fed in a very confined area which leads to sanitary and disease problems. Third, huge quantities of feed are placed in these devices where the cattle, even when restrained by stanchions, have almost unrestrained access to the loose fodder. Thus, just as when a large bale of hay is placed in a pen area, the feeding cattle broadcast or spill or otherwise dump a large fraction of the feed on the ground where it is trampled and soiled. The trampled and soiled feed cannot be eaten and is therefore wasted.
Smaller cattle feeders are available and consist generally of a head-level rack for storing hay, either loose or baled, and a trough in the area below the rack. The purpose of the trough is to catch any hay that falls from the rack. The cattle eat both from the rack and from the trough. These conventional cattle feeders also have rather high rates of hay waste, sometimes as much as 30% or more, through scattering of the hay and the hay being blown away or trampled.
Not only do cattle pick through the hay bale as discussed above, they do not eat neatly, which further contributes to the generation of waste during the feeding process. The main manner in which the waste occurs begins with the cow tearing a tuft of hay out of the bale. The cow then draws the tuft of hay out of the bale, and aside, before starting to eat the mouthful of hay. Inevitably, a proportion of hay falls from the cow's mouth or from the bale of hay during the tearing, drawing out and subsequent eating of the hay by the animal.
It has been proposed by Martin, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,040, to construct a feeder that permits the dropped or spilled hay to be collected and re-presented to the cattle in order to reduce the amount of waste. In the animal feeder of U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,040 to Martin, semi-circular slats are arranged to support a cylindrical hay-bale with the axis of the hay-bale disposed horizontally. It is disclosed that the outer-cage comprises a series of vertically disposed outer-cage bars which are spaced apart by such a distance that a typical farm cow can pass its head and neck through and between the bars but cannot pass its shoulders between the bars.
Waste and losses still are possible in devices such as that proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,040 to Martin, where the outer cage comprises vertical bars. U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,609 to Delichte discloses that the reason for such losses is that the animal tends to place its head into the frame arrangement to grasp the best portion of the feed material and then withdraws its head from the frame by backing up. The animal then eats the material outside the frame, and any material that drops from its mouth lands on the ground and becomes soiled and/or trampled. U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,609 to Delichte discloses a livestock feeder for cylindrical bales where the bale is held in a vertical position. The frame members 21 in the outer frame 11 are inclined relative to a vertical line lying in the cylinder defined by the rails 16 and 17. This arrangement encourages the animal to eat with its head remaining between the inner and the outer frame because a slight twisting movement is required for the head of the animal to exit or enter the space between the inner and outer frames. Both the outer frame and the inner frame are circular in shape.
Movable or portable feeders permit the farmer or rancher to take advantage of natural pasture grass which, although probably being insufficient to support a total herd at certain times of the year, is often of sufficient quantity to substantially supplement the pre-cut feed and thus save costs.
Small, portable feeding devices have been proposed. U. S. Pat. No. 4,258,663 to Schoessow discloses an outer cage having diagonally extending bars or frame members 44 in the outer framework 42. The central portion of the tank bottom located inside the inner rack may be raised and include a pair of oppositely inclined walls which angle downwardly and outwardly towards the outer tank walls so that loose feed slides from the inner rack into the feeding troughs. Schoessow discloses that the cattle feeder can be made a mobile unit by mounting the tank on wheels. The hay is accessible from all four sides of the feeder.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,333 to Touchette discloses that portable feeder designs having the wheel axles secured to the floor structure of the feeder may result in excessive tension in the floor structure, causing failure of the floor components or even separation of either axle from the feeder. This problem may be particularly acute when a fully loaded feeder is caused to travel over rough terrain. Touchette proposes a cattle feeder box which can be mounted on an ordinary farm wagon. Other portable hay feeders are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,901 to Cox, U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,449 to Harton, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,060 to Johnson, and French patent publication no. 2,450,556 (published Oct. 3, 1980).
Another disadvantage of portable feeders is that livestock, especially large livestock such as cattle, bump and push against the portable feeders during feeding. After a period of time, the portable feeders become bent or deformed due to the contact with the livestock and must be repaired or discarded. This represents a substantial cost and inconvenience. The livestock often must be fed manually in the interim when the feeder is being repaired or replaced, which results in greater feed waste and increased labor costs.
Also, when portable or movable feeders are located in the pasture, the feeder must be easily accessible by vehicles used for loading the feeder with hay bales or transporting the feeder. This vehicle access may be hampered by feeders that are accessible from all sides because the livestock trample the ground around the entire feeder, often making the ground around the feeder unstable due to the formation of mud and loose soil. The unstable ground may not only prevent the feeder from being loaded or moved, it may also present a safety hazard to the operator of a loading vehicle such as fork lift, especially a fully loaded fork lift carrying a hay bale weighing on the order of 500 pounds to 2000 pounds. It is generally undesirable to operate on or have a fork lift travel over unstable ground, especially a loaded fork lift. The fork lift may become stuck, may slide or skid, and also may, under certain circumstances, tipover. Injury to the operator and/or livestock, equipment damage, hay waste, lost time and manpower are all possible consequences of attempting to load a feeder having unstable ground surrounding it. Often the feeder may not be used unless it is loaded by hand in the pasture. This is often the case until the ground stabilizes and the feeder can be approached with a vehicle to load or move it.
It would be desirable to have a livestock feeder design which may be used either for a permanent installation or a movable livestock feeder. Advantageously, such a feeder would have a high feeding efficiency, by preventing the cattle from easily removing hay to a location outside of the trough and also by having a feeder design which results in essentially complete consumption of the feed contained in it.